More alike than we know
by Yuna Of Besaid
Summary: Gippal makes an astonishing discovery about Baralai and Rikku's choice of headwear. Oneshot. Barikku slight Gipaine.


Heya. I'm at home ill and i'm bored so...yeah. Here you go a Barikku one shot because I was watching my randomness Video I made on You-tube (My name is Baralaifan4eva if you wanna check them out) when I noticed something amazing. Baralai and Rikku have...Matching bandanna's!! So um, yeah here we go.

Disclaimer: Baralai is not mine, only on Wednesdays! For the rest of the week he is the property of Squaresoft and Rikku!

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"'Lai, why do you wear that bandanna?" Gippal asked once when they were in the Crimson squad. It had always remained a mystery to the Al Bhed boy. Many nights he would just sit staring at Baralai and his blue bandanna over the camp-fire wondering why the young man opposite accessorised with such care. Although the older boy was particularly feminine in his features and softly spoken, Gippal could tell from a mile off he was far from gay. Maybe it was the way he acted around Paine that brought that to light for him. Everyone knew Gippal and Paine had a thing going on during the Crimson squad, both being the youngest they hit it off straight away. But Baralai, he definitely wasn't one to go behind his friends backs when it came to women, but Gippal noticed the way he looked at Paine when they met. A slow glance up and down confirmed that Baralai, was far from gay. So his need to accessorise remained mysterious to him. And so Gippal sat in wonderment, night after night, staring at his snow haired friend and his blue bandanna,that is, until the night Baralai had caught him looking.

"What?" Baralai shyly asked, ever the modest one. Gippal repeated his thoughts out loud, swirling his words out carefully.

"'Lai, why do you wear that bandanna?" He sat looking blankly at Gippal before quietly chuckling to himself. When he looked up again, his soft chocolate eyes matched Gippal's one blue eye.

"It keeps my hair out my eyes." He whispered, going slightly pink in his modesty. Gippal was silent, thinking over Baralai's words. 'It keeps my hair out my eyes' Well, that could be code for anything. Had Baralai never heard of gel or haircuts? Gippal knew both of these statements to be untrue as it must take heaps of gel to hold the front of Baralai's hair in place everyday.

"But why blue? It contrasts with your hair." Gippal had blurted out suddenly, regretting every word until he saw Baralai laughing harder than ever.

"It's a long story, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you." He grinned ear to ear and left the fire for the sanctuary of his tent, leaving Gippal confused and very much alone.

Two years had past, changing and shaping Spira and its people in ways never thought possible. Even Gippal had changed, slightly but- not really enough to notice it was there. He thought many nights about his days in the squad, drifting off to sleep in Djose asking one question to himself. "Why did Baralai really wear that damned bandanna?"

Nearer than Gippal could have ever imagine, slept Baralai, changed considerably since his squad days. True in appearance one could tell he was still a 'typical teenager' but in personality, it could be a different man. A man, yes that was the difference. Unlike Gippal, Baralai had taken a giant fall in life that pushed him further and further to grow up into the model leader the people wanted. He wasn't a carefree teen any more but a man, a man who had a lot of work to do and little trust for anyone. But one thing did remain the same in the praetors life. That damned bandanna. And sooner than he realised, that bandanna would change his life.

"Hey, Cid's girl! How you been?" Gippal asked a cheery Rikku as she skipped down the road to the Djose temple alone.

"I Have a name." She whined and whacked him in the stomach. He feigned pain and turned to her grinning.

"Watch it or I'll get Paine to kick your ass." Gippal retorted. Rikku pouted back and sat down on the steps of the temple watching the monkeys.

"Its so hard to believe you and her are together now. I mean, Yunie has Tidus and you have Paine. Even brother has some random girl. I feel so alone." She muttered, deep in her own world of single people. It was then, with Rikku leaning forward like that, that Gippal realised something.

"Hey, Rikku, Why do you wear that bandanna?" He questioned, looking at the familiar offending item that had cost most of his aggravation back in the squad. Rikku looked back confused.

"It keeps my hair out of my eyes." She said shrugging at the maniac standing in front of her. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected Rikku to say the same thing as Baralai did, did he?

"Why blue though?" He continued. Rikku rolled her eyes and ignored his stupid questions. Since when did Gippal have a bandanna fetish? She thought to herself.

"Hey, have you met Baralai yet?" He asked stupidly forgetting that Rikku had in fact met him and kick his ass in the Bevelle underground.

"Yes, she has. She thinks he's cute." Came Paine's stoic voice from the archway. Rikku stood up blushing.

"Fryd yna oui cyoehk?" (What are you saying?) She asked, covering her face. The other two laughed at her as she ran off out of Djose.

"I'll call 'Lai and tell him to look out for Rikku?" Gippal laughed and went inside, arm hanging over Paine.

Rikku ran. She didn't know where she was heading but she knew she had to leave before Gippal interrogated her. How did Paine know that she liked Baralai? Did Rikku say something in her sleep? Or was it because she asked Yuna what she though of Baralai? Or maybe it was her unwillingness to fight him under Bevelle? Or was it the fact she was first to realise Baralai was now possessed and not Nooj? Or was it the fact she snuck her complaint about Yuna being called high summoner so she got a chance to talk to him? Or was it- Rikku's head was in overdrive and before she had a chance to question her surroundings she was face to face with the object of her torment.

"Lady Rikku. Gippal informed me that you were heading in this direction." Baralai bowed to her, making her blush. Now Gippal even knew where she was going before she did. Damn Gippal.

"Um, its just Rikku." She muttered, realising she was being very rude. "So what ya doing here then?" She asked a bewildered Baralai. Stupid Rikku. Stupid. "Of course you'd be here, you work here." She muttered again. He laughed softly and placed his arm out for her to take.

"The question, really, is what are you doing here,Rikku?" He chuckled as she excepted his arm and walked slowly down the bridge to the city gates.

"I have no idea." She whined to herself, even though Baralai heard. He stopped very suddenly when they reached the inner city.

"If it isn't too bold, would you care to have dinner with me?" he asked, blushing slightly himself. Rikku was having a parade in her head.

"As in a date?" She giggled at the shy praetor. He looked embarrassed and realised his mistake in his question.

"Well, I meant because it is eight already and I doubt that you have eaten today."He softly replied. Rikku felt her spirits drop suddenly. "But when you put it that way," Rikku looked into his eyes expectantly. "I would love to have dinner with you, as in a date." He chuckled softly again.

"R-Really?" She stuttered, he nodded softly in reply. "But I'm an Al Bhed. Isn't that against Yevon's teachings?" He stopped at a railing overlooking the sea and the night sky, a cool breeze running its smooth fingers through his hair. The stars had made an entrance into the sky already, making Bevelle seem almost romantic for the first time to Rikku.

"A dream ago, perhaps." His words softly caressed her ears. She joined him at the rail. "But like a dream, never permanent and ever changing." Rikku couldn't understand if it was the setting or the words that had such an effect on her, but she suspected, it was just Baralai.

"You see,Rikku, people fail to understand that the Al Bhed are mearly another race of Spira and not another species entirely. It is sad to look back at all the hate and damage my people have caused yours. But in the end we are not that much different at all." He concluded, staring into the sky as if every star held a separate statement to impress Rikku with.

"We both want peace, a place to belong, some one to love." He whispered into the cloudless sky, his words carried high by the winds mischievous hands. It was then, in that sheer moment, Rikku understood why Baralai was praetor still.

"I think- I think I finally understand New Yevon." She muttered, huddling nearer to him for warmth. He looked down at her, waiting for her to explain his aims to him. "It's like the Al Bhed home, really. The first time home was taken from us, we didn't know where to go or what to do. We separated all over Spira until my dad, he brought us back together and we built a new home. Its the same with Yevon. Yevon was destroyed and everyone in Spira didn't know what to do. New Yevon, even if it is a lie, brings the people together to a place they feel safe. To a world they understand." She trailed off, staring at the piercing moonlight.

"Exactly. I'm glad someone understands." Baralai whispered back, a tranquil look upon his face. "SO it seems we are not that different after all." He smiled gently.

"Yeah, even our bandanna's match." Rikku pointed out, noticing for the first time the identical items on their heads. Baralai laughed with her for what seemed an eternity, the moonlight shining in his snow white hair and the stars twinkling in his eyes, making him seem even more perfect to Rikku.

Back in Djose, Gippal and Paine were lying in bed attempting to sleep. But something kept playing over and over in his mind.

"Paine?" He asked quietly.

"Yes?" he voice sleepily replied from his left.

"Have you ever noticed that 'Lai and Rikku have matching bandanna's?"

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End file.
